Melbourne (AFP)
The second semifinal of the Australian Open, which will pit Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev for an unprecedented Grand Slam semi-final, was scheduled for Friday night in the Rod Laver Arena.
Austria's Thiem will play the fifth semi-final of his career at 26, but the first in a Grand Slam tournament other than that of Roland Garros.
He had never passed the knockout stages (in 2017 and 2018) in Melbourne before this year, where he dropped out in the 2nd round in 2019.
Alexander Zverev reached the last four in a major tournament for the first time, at the age of 22. Before this semi-final, two quarter-finals at Roland-Garros in 2018 and 2019 were his best results in a "Major".
The German’s best course so far this year in Melbourne was a round of 16 in 2019. Canadian Milos Raonic beat him.
Thiem and Zverev have already met eight times. Thiem largely leads 6 wins to 2 and has won their last two head-to-head, including the most recent at the Masters in London last November, in the semi-finals. Thiem then lost in the final against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The winner on Friday will face Novak Djokovic, the seven-time winner in the seven finals, for the title on Sunday.
ROD LAVER ARENA
. Not before 7:30 p.m. local (9:30 a.m. French)
Dominic Thiem (AUT / N.5) - Alexander Zverev (GER / N.7)
© 2020 AFP